LOCH GARTEN OSPREY GABFEST FOR Oct, Nov, Dec, 2018

LOCH GARTEN CARNYX WILD CAM at present.  Nice clear view of bird feeder swinging in the breeze.

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. It is the season for bad colds after all. We did have a cold, my little Karl, and I, but fortunately not too bad. Otherwise, the family is all well, approaching Karl's first birthday. He is a highly attentive wee lad, interested in eveything technical: Mobile Phones, remote controls, the microwave.... and he has so quickly found out, how to open and close drawers....

Now I have a great favour to ask: Does anyone of you know a really good recipe for a cake or a pie with pumpkin? Maybe a recipe famous and loved in the entire family? Of course, I could search the internet and try out, but I thought I might ask my friends first, if they know a good cake themselves, so I might save the trouble to bake dozens of cakes before finding my favourite. My husband has had a piece of a good pumpkin-cake back in 2012, when we first met, on a journey through New Mexico and Arizona, in a town named Willcox. And now he dreams of baking such a cake himself. Any help is highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance. Kind regards, Bente with family

Hi Bente, I have not made anything with Pumpkin, but have found some recipes that look scrumpy! if you are interested, I found these on the BBC food website, I like this site as you can pick a recipie, or favourite chef, and the recipies are easy to follow.

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/pumpkin_and_rosemary_11109

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/cumberland_sausage_59571

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/pumpkin_soup_with_09210

Hello Catlady,

thank you very much for the recipes. They are surely worth a try. As it is the easiest thing to do, I usually make pumpkin-soup myself. But the traybake looks delicious! By the way:  My husband likes the soup best with a little pumpkin-seed-oil in it, instead of the olive-oil, that is mentioned in the recipe. Pumpkin-seed-oil is usually made in Austria, so I don't know if you can buy it in Great Britain or the States. But I assure you: It gives the soup a very special, mild taste. And what we, too, like: Fry some pumpkin-cubes and some onion in a pan, cook noodles and add them to the pumpkin and fry a bit more. Add a little salt and pepper, and then you are ready!!! And when everything is on the plate: also a little pumpkin-seed-oil to it....  mmmmh delicious!!! And maybe some pickled pumpkin!!!! Very delicious, too. This is how they serve pumpkin in the hotel, where my husband works.

Kind regards, until soon!

Sounds very nice indeed Bente, well worth a try.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep

15 mins

Cook,

25 mins

Total

40 mins

Beautiful moist pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting!

Servings: 12 - 20

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups (350g) white sugar (Note 1)

1 cup vegetable oil (or canola)

15 oz / 420 g can pure pumpkin , or 2 cups mashed fresh pumpkin

2 cups (300g) all purpose / plain flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp salt

Frosting

6 oz / 180 g cream cheese , at room temperature

2 sticks / 225 g / 1 cup unsalted butter , softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups (480 g) confectionary / icing sugar (sifted if clumpy)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F / 180C, all oven types.

Spray and line a large pan around 9 x 13" / 22 x 33cm with baking paper with overhang.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto cooling rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting

Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat for 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and fluffy. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.

Hello bjane,

that sounds so good! A moist cake was exactly what I hoped for. Using an untried recipe form the internet, I would always have been afraid that the cake might turn out dry and hard. I'll certainly give this one a try. Thank you very much!

Evening all. Nice to see you Bente and glad you and Karl and hubby are well! I too am thinking of making a pumpkin pie but not sure how yet.

We used to have a Christmas cake bake off on the gayest some years ago which was fun. I generally don't bother making a Christmas cake now as I find it a bit too much trouble or maybe I'm just lazy

Yesterday morning we heard this horrible noise on the other side of our garden fence and OH climbed up and saw 2 sparrow hawk's having a massive fight. Never seen this before quite violent!